Stay With Me
by Gabriella Fairbourne
Summary: A stand-alone short story from Starfall that follows a certain prince as he watches over his colony-and Miss Noin-from Mars orbit. Just for fun!  And yes, Starfall is updating late again... 6x9


AN: There are problems with the Royal Wedding. Don't worry, no one has cold feet. Duo forgot his tie and Heero lost the rings. I'm terribly disappointed in them. While we get this sorted out—i.e. I rewrite the part that I realized must be changed at the last minute—here is a deleted scene from Starfall. That I love.

It's a deleted scene because I decided to change Kieran's role in the story. However, I absolutely love the conversation between Ember and Lucrezia. Sometimes being a writer means ruthless editing. :(

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><p>Stay With Me<p>

Mars  
>Starfall<p>

It was twilight in Starfall. The Lightning Count lifted his gaze to watch bars of sunlight slip free of the red sphere turning slowly below the shuttle, a jewel in space. He used to think of Earth that way, even as he thought to destroy it under Epyon's spell. Ensorcelled no longer, Mars could be appreciated as the peacetime creation he hoped for. If Relena's vision succeeded here, Milliardo Peacecraft might finally be free.

Zechs allowed a smile. An insipidly poetic notion if ever there was one. Still… The Mars Project was a test of the new peace. His telescopes and Fell Evershade's atmosphere were only the beginning.

Why the sentimentality? Could it be the clock? They had logged thirty days on Mars so far, the Prince and Princess of Sanc. Not that he lived by a strict deadline, however…

Where was she? His goal this evening was to pick up five of Kieran's people from a research station halfway round the planet from Starfall while Noin dropped off atmospheric monitoring sensors at another outpost. More pilots were needed. All day they had done nothing save fly back and forth, exchanging the occasional greeting over the radio. Tedious, perhaps, for a powerful soldier to become little more than a glorified courier, yet it was an opportunity to fly. It was even enjoyable after a while. Solitude was a familiar thing, but not as fulfilling as it used to be.

The Prince found it difficult to drown in sorrows on Mars.

Zechs uncrossed his arms from his chest and set the shuttle's computer to look for her. There… Noin's shuttle appeared in a flash on the screen at his left, gliding across the red planet's equator. Zechs grinned as the display marked her speed…and they called _him_ Lightning Count. It was important to remember that Lucrezia only came in second in their class at Lake Victoria by the merest of fractional points. Given the proper motivation she was fully capable of extreme recklessness, certainly enough to put him in his place. One or two points the other way and she might have beaten him. Except that wasn't Miss Noin's style.

Miss Noin.

Lately it seemed she held him under some kind of enchantment. More surprisingly, he was willing to be charmed. All those years after the Academy, when each of them worked their own magic within Treize's OZ, Zechs forced himself to resist the temptation to possess her. It was within the realm of possibility; Treize placed her within easy reach at Lake Victoria. When Zechs finally called her to his side, it was with the intention of keeping her there…until fate and Relena's situation forced him down a new path. It made sense to send Lucrezia into the Sanc Kingdom; he caught her neatly in her promises. She would never deny Zechs anything he asked and as long as she was with Relena, she was relatively safe from Treize's machinations. Brilliant, really…

That was then. Now, he was finding it difficult to understand how he let her go. Especially on days like this one when they were too long apart. An expert soldier, he ought to be more patient. What was eight hours when compared to a year or more? Then she would look at him through glossy raven bangs or brush against him or some other such adorable little thing and all of his perfect emotional barriers were so much shrapnel. It was like trying to stop the Tallgeese with a bicycle and a slingshot.

Suddenly, Zechs wanted very much to get home. Hitting a few switches, he started the engines and angled the little ship toward the surface and the terraforming team waiting below. If he was early, they would just have to deal with it. Who else was going to fly them back? As he reset his course, he accidentally hit a key on the communications panel. The controls on this particular model shuttle were in a bad place. He planned to tear it down and rebuild it to his satisfaction so he would stop hitting that switch. Usually he got nothing but static and jumped when he heard Lucrezia's voice.

"Kieran asked me to have dinner with him."

A familiar chuckle followed. "What did you say?"

Ember… Since when did she ride around with the shuttle pilots? Zechs wondered momentarily if he would survive this friendship, Noin and Ember had bonded so thoroughly it was as if they'd known each other longer than mere days, then it really hit him what they were talking about and he froze, numb fingers inches from the switch. Kieran asked Noin _what_…?

"I said no, of course. I said I couldn't."

"Have you told Zechs?"

"He'd already left. It was just this morning."

Zechs glared at the switch. "I'm going to kill him," he growled before he realized he might be broadcasting, too. For a frantic minute, he listened for a reply and prayed they hadn't heard him. Nothing happened. Fully aware listening in on their conversation was the height of bad manners, not to mention what it said for his self-confidence, Zechs deliberately pulled his hand away from the communications panel.

"What did he say?" Ember asked.

"Just that he liked me and wanted to go out…of course, this is Mars and where would we go? He offered to make me dinner at his place. Then he said he worried that I might be unhappy. And he was very polite."

"You do like the pretty manners, don't you?"

"I suppose so. Of course, a true gentleman would have asked me in a letter instead of in person."

"No kidding," Zechs agreed, his voice echoing in the empty cabin. It was simply common courtesy! Treize taught him that before he went to LVA.

Ember laughed again. "You're kidding? That's pretty antiquated stuff."

"I _like_ that 'antiquated' stuff," Lucrezia objected, sounding a little hurt. "Treize taught us that the perfect soldier was incomplete without perfect manners."

"Is that why you eat pizza with a fork?"

"When is it appropriate _not_ to use a fork?"

"When you eat pizza," Ember said immediately, "and cheeseburgers and buffalo wings…"

"Buffalo wings?" repeated Lucrezia, confused. Zechs did not know what Ember was talking about, either. Wasn't a buffalo a large land animal?

"Never mind… So, did Zechs write you a letter?"

"That's a rather personal question."

"Come on, I really want to know! The whole year he lived in my hospital, he talked about you nonstop. The least you can do is filling me in on some of the good stuff. I like kissing scenes."

"Ember, you have a lot to learn about being an elegant soldier," it was Lucrezia's turn to laugh. "Didn't you learn anything in OZ?"

"I didn't go to precious tea-and-crumpets Lake Victoria. I went to Sydney Military Prep and then med school. All I knew was that the dress saber got in the way when I saw patients and I could never keep my white gloves from getting dirty."

"The secret is to have extra gloves."

"Thanks. That's a lot of help _now_. Now spill it, Your Highness. Did Zechs express his undying devotion to you in a letter? And was it handwritten…?"

"It would be extremely inappropriate to create such a thing electronically. It was handwritten."

"Wow…"

"How did Rhodri propose courting you?"

"Eh? Oh… I asked him. It's pretty boring. To be honest, he is better at the elegant soldier thing. I just walked up to him in the cardiac ward, told him he was hot, and asked if he wanted to go out. He said yes. That was it."

"The gentleman is supposed to declare his intentions in writing."

"Maybe at LVA he is. Lucrezia, if you waited all that time for Zechs to ask…you must have been a little frustrated."

A pause… "Actually," Lucrezia hesitated, "I did say something in the middle of combat in Brussels."

"Minx…"

"Treize also taught me to speak my mind. I've never been particularly skilled at keeping my mouth shut."

"And what did you say in the middle of combat in Brussels? I want to jump your mobile suit?"

More giggles. "I said, among other things, I simply can't wait any longer."

"Why, the duchess is a little vamp after all. I _knew_ I liked you. What did he do?"

"Typical Zechs answer: he said, 'Understood.' And that was it. We were in the middle of a losing battle, or so we thought."

"That's it? After all the stuff he said about you? I don't believe it."

"What did he say?"

"You are the most brilliant soldier he ever met, Relena loves you to pieces, you are persistently kind in a world that does not appreciate such a thing…but he does…and that you have great legs. Granted, he was on some pretty heavy-duty painkillers when he said the thing about your legs, however he was perfectly lucid when he said he missed you desperately."

"…Zechs said he missed me? Desperately…?"

"Yeah…it was pretty disgustingly sweet, now that I think about it."

"I thought you liked the kissing scenes."

"That wasn't a kissing scene; it was a coming-down-from-narcotics scene. Well, I know he missed you."

"He never said one way or the other."

"Not even when you told him you," Ember affected a husky voice rather like Noin's, "simply can't wait any longer!"

"I didn't say it like that."

Zechs grinned and said softly, "Yes you did, beloved."

"Well he must have said something," Ember persisted, "Even if it was 'don't get emotional in the middle of a battle.'"

"Zechs never said anything. It was what he did that is important," Noin insisted. And miles away, the Lightning Count felt his face grow hot. Unconsciously he shook his heavy bangs over his eyes as a barrier for he remembered perfectly what did happen, and Noin was unaware he was listening.

"What did he do?"

Zechs heard Noin's coy smile. "I…didn't have to wait any longer."

"Spoken like a proper lady…"

"It would not be polite to discuss the…kissing scene."

"You're really funny. Well, at least you have it in writing."

"What…?"

"That letter. At least he said he loved you, right?"

"Ember, you don't tell a girl you love her in a letter…not that kind of letter."

"You mean he's never said it."

"Zechs does not have to say it."

"Then how do you know…?"

"I know."

"I'm curious how, since the two of you are clearly such expert communicators. Did he spell it out with roses or compose a properly worded sonnet?" Zechs leaned forward in his chair, equally curious. Not that he ever doubted Noin knew where things stood…

"Zechs caught me between promises. Relena asked me to look after him and what Zechs needed most at the time was to protect Relena. If I was in the Sanc Kingdom with her, I was allegedly safe. I can take care of myself, I'm as strong as he is, and he knows that. If he came right out and said he didn't want me to fight, I would politely tell him where to stuff it. Politely, as I am a soldier of Treize…"

"Of course…"

"That is how I know. I have no need for rote expressions of affection when I have personally fought for and also witnessed true devotion to a cause. Compared to that, everything else is…empty."

Ember was silent. Miles away, Zechs waited and wondered.

Finally, the doctor spoke. "It is not empty, but it pales by comparison. Fine, I give in. Yours is a love that will outlast time itself without a single word spoken in its name. Forgive me if I like to hear my husband say it once in a while."

"You are entitled to your feelings Ember. You certainly don't have to agree with me…"

"What will you do about Kieran?"

"Nothing, he knows the situation now. Just…don't say anything. I'll handle it…"

The transmission ended then as Noin prepared to land her shuttle. Zechs began his landing as well. So Noin saw through him. Often enough he wondered what she made of those orders, a brilliant soldier with such gifts relegated to the minimal duties of bodyguard and regent for a teenage girl. Yet Noin accepted it without complaint as she always did and knew it to be an expression of trust and deepest love. Who else, really, could he have given responsibility for his little sister and his home?

Without looking, he reached for the computer and hit a key. Noin's voice filled the cabin again, this time against a backdrop of mobile suit engines and cold wind. Still, her voice and Relena's were as clear and heartrending as the day the Tallgeese computer recorded the exchange from the moment his sister charged into the middle of the duel to speak her mind to the instant Noin confessed everything.

"You're fond of my brother, aren't you Noin?"

"Yes. I love him."

"Please watch over my brother forever."

"I don't know if I'm able to. Colonel Zechs can be reckless at times." It was the only moment Zechs remembered Noin expressing any doubt in her abilities.

Relena was unconcerned. "It must be in the Peacecraft blood."

No one else was supposed to hear this. Noin dismissed all of her people before speaking to Relena and closed all of the other open communication channels. Relena left hers open. Zechs wasn't certain if that was intentional or simply his sister's inexperience. Not the point; the point was, he listened to everything…including Noin's simple declaration of unconditional love.

"I want to stay by his side no matter what he does or what he searches for."

Ember would be disappointed; Noin never spoke the words either. What she said, what she always promised, was that she would stay by his side. Even when Epyon called the shots, even at the end, all she said was, "just let me be here by your side." And Zechs allowed her to stay every time because every time it cut right into his heart. When Noin said that she would stay by his side, she was really saying she loved him. End of story. Why discuss what was already so deeply cherished?

That day, in the cold storm of the Arctic, Noin walked willingly to her destruction with Romefeller to support him. Not even Treize could save her from her fate. That day, his spirit was so broken he thought nothing could repair it…until Noin said she loved him. In that moment, he found the strength to protect Relena, continue to fight, endure the pain, remember the reason he fought to begin with. Revenge was complete yet the cause remained. Noin unknowingly clarified that for him. After that morning, Zechs knew with absolute certainty that whatever befell him in the days to come, he would never love anyone else.

A chime intruded and he jumped. It was a real message: Kieran, wanting to know where he was.

Zechs was tempted to pretend he could not find the Terra Team leader, but that would hardly solve anything. He would presume the young man simply did not understand what he had done and leave it at that. Noin could be trusted to deal with the situation appropriately.

Still, that wouldn't prevent him from gently dissuading Kieran from making any more advances on what belonged to Zechs.

Zechs lifted his headset from his neck. "Kieran, I apologize for running late; I had hoped to have you back in time for dinner."

"Dinner…?" Did he detect a hint of worry? "Uh, yeah… I'll see you in the cafeteria, right?"

"Perhaps, but I might be busy. I was thinking of making something for Noin. She likes pasta."

"I did not realize you knew how to cook, Zechs."

"Elegant soldiers have many gifts," Zechs said in his quietest way, the tone that used to make his pilots tremble.

"Right," Kieran sounded overly cheerful and the Lightning Count allowed a devious smile. Was it wrong that he was having a little fun right now? Noin would not appreciate baiting Kieran; Noin was kind. Unfortunately, Zechs had never claimed to be any such thing himself.

"I have your location and will be landing soon."

Kieran hastened to be polite. "Thank you for the ride."

"It is no trouble. After all, I am a pilot. Perhaps one day we might talk about flying mobile suits such as Tallgeese…and Epyon." And you will better understand who I am…

"It would be…an honor."

"Right," Zechs agreed with a smirk.

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><p>Me again. Speaking of ruthless editing…and Starfall…the next time I attempt a project such as this, I am going to make sure I have a larger buffer in place before I announce an update schedule. In spite of my vow to be diligent, real life truly does get in the way. For instance, I planned time to write and edit—only to have a job that I want open up this week. Instead of finishing the Wedding chapter, I'm using the time I set aside for that to prepare my application.<p>

I appreciate all of your patience—should you choose to offer it. ^^ I promise I will respond to all of your reviews and comments when the story is complete. I'm so happy to know there are people out there who still love these characters and wish for more stories…just like me.

-GF


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